Re: Feedback

Firstly, I suggest keeping your title card as a single slide with both your name and "Animation reel" on the same piece. Recruiters don't have much time to view each reel, they have many others to watch and you don't want to make them dismiss your reel from the first few seconds. When I first opened the video, I see your name only. Okay... who are you, and what am I watching? I don't have the patience to stick around, just tell me what your video is for. Time is of the essence and first impressions are everything. Which leads to my second critique. The red title card is aggravating to my eyes, as is the stylised comic font you chose. You probably wanted to project an image of friendliness and relaxation, but it does not look professional, and I am already making judgments based on the title card. All of these from just the first 4 seconds, and it does not look good for you. Keep it simple. A black, grey, or white title card, with your name and chosen position (3D animator) typed in a sleek minimalistic font, would be safe choices that offends no one. Don't linger too long on the title card either, a few seconds would suffice. Get straight to the animation. Do look for animation reels that impressed you and kept you watching, and study how they style the title cards and how they arrange their shots and use sound/song to their benefit. Personally, I was super impressed by how these reels grabbed my attention and kept me hooked: ( https://vimeo.com/155640930 ) ( https://vimeo.com/55752142 )

Aside from that, your animations are okay. Basic. A little bland. Could do with more polishing, the weight is lacking overall. The walk cycle is alright, but very vanilla. The run cycle lacks weight and some limbs could do with more offset; I think if you shift the timing of the limbs around, it could help give more weight. Right now, everything is moving at the same pace. Maybe keep his hang time in the air a bit longer, and make him land heavier and faster. Think of the bouncing ball principles and incorporate it into the run; it looks a little robotic. As for the horse, its walk has noticeable pops in the leg. The trot is not bad, I can't really pinpoint anything wrong with that one without really examining it closely. The gallop needs more work for the tail, it's too stiff. The body seems like it's hanging weightlessly in the air while the limbs move, so needs some work to make it look like it's landing on the ground with weight. The dialogue shot is the weakest, because the man does not move much throughout the scene, and his facial animation is not expressive enough to keep me watching. There's hardly any movement at all. I think you should try animating a more expressive dialogue, this one requires a lot of subtlety and strong facial acting which is above your capabilities at the moment.

Overall, you're on the right path, skill wise. There is nothing wrong with your animation, but as I mentioned, it's somewhat bland and not very exciting. It's all by the book and mechanical. Get some fun acting in there. Now that you can animate a horse decently, why not stage it with a moving camera, and get the horse moving in 3D space with some head tosses, a few direction changes, etc. Make a walk cycle that has a story/context to it, eg. a thief sneaking around a house and nearly gets discovered, so he has to scramble and make a big run for escape. You are at the start of your animating journey and I can tell that with more polishing and with cool/fun acting choices, you can do very well. Have fun, and all the best!